Britain Condemns Hanging Of Two Iranian Protesters
The United Kingdom has slammed Iran's execution of two protesters Saturday and urged the regime to "immediately end the violence against its own people".
The United Kingdom has slammed Iran's execution of two protesters Saturday and urged the regime to "immediately end the violence against its own people".
The country’s Foreign Minister James Cleverly in a tweet said, "The execution of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini by the Iranian regime is abhorrent."
"The UK is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances," he added.
Iran hanged the two men for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests that were triggered following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.
The convictions were not based on a criminal charge related to the murder per se, but they were charged with ‘moharebeh’, meaning “war against God”, a vague religious concept. The Islamic Republic applies the charge to people who might get into a confrontation with security forces during protests.
Despite widespread international attempts to stop the executions, the regime decided to implement the verdict reached in November. Officials say death sentences for three others in the same case have been canceled.
So far, the government has executed four protesters and nearly a dozen others have received the death penalty, some for much less charges than murder, while at least 100 protesters face charges that could end in death sentences for them, an Iranian human rights group based in Oslo has reported.
Dozens of prisoners are either on hunger strike or suffer from life-threatening illnesses that are not treated by prison authorities and some are deprived of life-saving medications.
